


Cocktober 13: Choking AKA Biting Off More Than You Can Chew

by Glitter_Bug



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: But honestly there's very little drama in this, Candy, Fluff, Innuendo, M/M, Pining, Post-Season/Series 03, There's some brief choking on food, billy lives!, for a bit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:48:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26996956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Glitter_Bug/pseuds/Glitter_Bug
Summary: Billy and Steve have some fun at the fair.Including indulging in a very special candy treat...
Relationships: Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington
Comments: 11
Kudos: 52
Collections: Cocktober Prompt Meme





	Cocktober 13: Choking AKA Biting Off More Than You Can Chew

**Author's Note:**

> Oh this is some very silly fluff!
> 
> But the Cocks on Sticks thing is REAL!  
> It's an actual thing at my local fair.  
> It's been going for around 70 years- there's a guy who sells chicken shaped lollipops called ['Cocks on Sticks'.](https://www.nottinghampost.com/whats-on/food-drink/what-nottinghams-famous-cock-stick-2073297)  
> Please don't copy Billy or Steve, they are not designed to be eaten in one go!

“Well Billy, it looks like you’re making good progress.” 

Doc Owens shuffles through the papers on his desk, the files of medical records showing exactly just how Billy Hargrove managed to fight off and survive an attack from the Mind Flayer; copies of scans and X-rays detailing how his body is slowly knitting itself back together, how he’s still fighting battles, day to day, against his skin and his organs and his memories. How he’s still hurting, still healing.

But most importantly, they show how he’s winning. Getting a little better every day. Closer and closer to recovered. Closer and closer to getting out of there.

“I’d say we could possibly have you out of here by Christmas, if you promise you’ll go easy on the eggnog.” Doc Owens chuckles a little, and Steve shoots a thumbs up at knee height, visible only to Billy.

Billy's expression sours. “Fucking Christmas? Sorry, but c'mon doc, I'm going stir crazy cooped up in here. All work and no play is making Billy a very dull boy. I can’t do another two months.”   
  
"We don't want to rush things. But we can start with a few little trips into town first, test the water a little." Owens' smile is sympathetic, but Billy still huffs, leans back in his chair with his arms folded and a pout on his face. Steve can tell by the over exaggerated pose that Billy's actually trying to hide a deep disappointment, trying to cover up his sadness with a veneer of attitude. And it works pretty well when Billy’s got sporting a leather jacket and biker boots. Clad in grey joggers and a baggy T-Shirt, it just looks like he’s being a brat. 

"What about the fair?" Steve blurts out, "It's tonight but I could go with him, keep an eye."

And although Steve's looking at Owens, he's talking just as much to Billy, "a bit of fresh air and a few rides- nothing scary, nothing heart-pumpy. And we can be back before midnight."

"What am I? Cinderella? Gonna turn into a damn pumpkin?" Billy rolls his eyes, but Steve can see the way his shoulders loosen, the way his mouth ticks up a little at the corners. 

Owens looks unsure, his eyes flicking over Billy's latest physio report. "You've got to be careful Billy," he says, "you've made a miraculous recovery, truly outstanding, and we don't want to undo any of that."

And Billy's scowling again, so Steve leans forward, tilts his head to look up through his eyelashes. Clasps his hands together in front of him. 

"Doc, please. Just one night. And we promise to stop if it gets too much."

Owens turns from Steve's big Bambi eyes, and is hit instead with Billy's twinkling blue eyes and dimpled grin.

Two pictures of innocence.

Owens looks between them both, a smile flickering onto his face as he throws up his hands.

“Ok, ok. Nothing strenuous though. Nothing exciting or stimulating. Keep that blood pressure low.” he wags a finger at Billy. “That means _no_ rollercoasters. Nothing that spins or turns or jostles. Think sedate, think merry-go-round then aim lower. Anything goes wrong, and I’m keeping you in here until next Easter.”

Steve lets out a little whoop and claps his hand onto Owens’ shoulder, “Thanks man, thanks.” 

Billy’s grin is wide, eyes crinkling at the corners as he shakes Owens’ hand. “Yeah, thanks. I’ll be careful.”

“You boys have fun,” Owens waves them both out of his office, “Midnight, remember.”

Billy gives him a jaunty little salute, and he and Steve skip right on out. 

*****

Billy is not impressed by the fair. 

He wrinkles his nose up as soon as he gets out of Steve’s car.

“Oh great, the stench of vomit and corn dogs really mixes well with the cow shit. I’m definitely seeing good ol’ Hawkins at her best tonight.”

He scowls at the muddy grass already dirtying up his trainers, and Steve can’t help but roll his eyes.

“Seriously BIlly, you must’ve been to a fair before.” 

Billy grimaces as he steps into yet another squelchy patch of mud, and he takes a meandering path to try and avoid the worst of it.

“Yeah, trust me Stevie, fairs in Cali were a lot less... brown. We had sand, and sun and a lot less actual shit.”

Billy gestures down a suspicious looking brown splat on the floor, and Steve tuts, "That's just mud," but he gives it a wide berth. "Anyway, you must've had fields. Cali can't just be sparkling seas and beaches."

Billy grins, "Well that's how I remember it. Nothing but beaches and bitches."

"One less bitch now you're here…" Steve mutters, but Billy isn't listening. 

"Harrington?" He's stopped dead in his tracks, one arm raised in the air, "What the hell is that?"

Steve looks to where he's pointing. To the little colourful candy stand. 

The stand advertising 'Cocks on Sticks' with a jaunty little cartoon of a chicken.   
  


"Oh yeah, that's uh, that's the candy stall. It's a Hawkins tradition." Steve stands beside him.

"Cocks on sticks?" Billy’s mouth is twitching at the corners.

"Yeah, they're lollipops." 

"Cocks?" Billy’s cheeks are twitching now, and Steve knows _exactly_ where this is going.

"Well, ok, yeah but it's not-"

Billy lets out a whoop of laughter,

"Cocks? Like...cocks?"

"No!" Steve slaps him "Get your mind out of the gutter. This thing used to be a farmers market, they used to sell cows and chickens and shit. So it's…that kind of cock. The chicken kind. It's just a dumb joke."

It’s too late, Billy is hooting with laughter, clutching at his sides. He keeps trying to say something, looking back at the stall and opening his mouth, but every time a laugh escapes instead. 

Steve can’t remember the last time he heard Billy laugh, can’t remember him giving anything more than a forced chuckle for a long time. He feels a little warm glow in his chest at seeing Billy so happy. 

"C’mon Hargrove, if it'll shut you up I'll buy you one."

"Oh please Steve," Billy wipes away a tear and his voice is hoarse, "please treat me to a nice juicy cock." And then the laughter bubbles up again, and Steve can't help but join in as he drags Billy over to the stand.

“Small, medium or large?” Steve asks, pointing at the examples on display. Billy doesn’t even pause, just jabs his finger at the largest lollipop and smirks, “The bigger the better when it comes to cocks Harrington.”

Steve orders the same, and then bats Billy’s hand away when he tries to pay.

“No way man, I invited you. Lemme get this.”

Lollipops in hand, they step away from the crowds into a more secluded spot. Billy rips away plastic wrapping covering his candy, then just stares at it. “I guess it kinda looks like a chicken”, he shrugs. It's a long 's' shape with two little frilly curls at either end, one with two little dotted eyes either side, and a curved shaft in the middle. 

He’s not quite sure how to approach it, 

"First time putting a cock in your mouth, Billy?" Steve grins at his hesitation, and Billy shoves the lollipop straight into his mouth. It immediately clings to his teeth, while the frilly bits catch on the roof of his mouth. Billy gags as soon as it’s in, an overpoweringly sweet strawberry taste filling his mouth, and he wrenches on the stick to pull it back out, but the whole thing is too sticky to budge and he just ends up making himself cough and splutter. He ends up having to suck a little on it, to dislodge the frills, and then wiggle it around until he can prise it off his teeth.

Steve watches the whole display with a look of sheer amusement on his face.

“Bite off a little more than you can chew there, Hargrove?” he smirks.

Billy's stare is vicious. 

"Shut it Harrington, just wasn't expecting it to be so sticky." He looks like he regrets the words as soon as they're out of his mouth, and Steve licks his lips, his eyes leering.

"That just means you’re doing it right," he purrs, flicking his tongue in a terrible impression of Billy at his most flirty.

And it’s so silly, but Billy just feels giddy when he watches Steve like that, when he sees him all cocky and confident- even if it is a joke. He can’t help the dopey smile spreading across his face, so he shoves the lollipop in again to hide it, causing another bout of coughing as the same thing happens again.

Steve actually looks a little concerned, and he raises a hand- dropping it before he touches Billy, "Slow down, we've got all night." His smirk reappears, “maybe you need a little practise?”

“Yeah,” Billy nods, “Maybe I should start with a smaller cock. A teeny one. Bite-size. You offering, Harrington?” 

Steve screws up his face and waves his middle finger at Billy. “You just need to see a master at work,” he teases, unwrapping his own lollipop slowly, easing the wrapper carefully around the head and down the curved shaft, before slipping it over the curl at the bottom and down off the stick. Then before Billy can blink, Steve holds the candy at an angle and then rams it straight into his mouth, the whole thing disappearing between his lips for a moment before he draws it back out with a twirl, running his tongue from the curly base to the frills at the top, swirling it around the head and probing at the little dips with the very tip. 

Billy gapes at him, eyes and mouth wide in shock. He feels like his brain is misfiring. He _knows_ his heart is pounding. His legs feel a little shaky and he’s using every little bit of willpower he has to stop his dick from bursting out of his jeans. Billy wonders if Doc Owens had anything like this in mind when he’d warned Billy about anything too stimulating, because Billy’s pretty damn sure his blood pressure is off the charts by now. He takes a few deep breaths, squeezes his hands into fists and thinks very very hard about the time he stumbled in on his Aunt Margaret in the tub.

He’s just about got himself under control when Steve pulls the candy from his mouth with a pop.

“Ta-da!” he grins, waving the lolly in the air, “Told you I was a pro!”

Billy rearranges his face into what he hopes is an amused smile, rather than his previous, rather more lustful, expression, and Steve grabs hold of his jacket.

“Ok now...,” he’s grinning, a sticky red smear of candy like gloss on his lips. Billy aches to lick it off, “Now I know we can’t do most of the actual, y’know, fun stuff here. Just in case, I dunno, your spleen falls out or your head explodes or whatever it is Owen’s worried about. Buuuut….”

Billy rolls his eyes at Steve’s enthusiasm, but he follows along as Steve drags him by the sleeve over to the far side of the fair. Right to the ferris wheel.

“This is a classic Hawkins Fair experience.” Steve announces, gesturing up at the wheel with his lollipop. “Tommy and I used to ride this every year. We’d wait until we were, like, a quarter of the way round, and then we’d light up a joint and ‘get high while we’re high’.” Steve makes little quotation marks around the last phrase, “Tommy came up with that. He laughed for the whole damn ride when he thought of it..” 

Steve’s smiling at the memory, and Billy takes a moment to appreciate just how happy he looks as he stares up at the slightly swaying seats of the wheel, the lights of the ride illuminating his hair, flashing in rainbows against the chocolate waves, the setting sun casting a rosy glow over his cheeks. 

“So, uh, you wanna?” Steve’s back with him now, looking a little shy “I don’t have any weed, and Owens probably wouldn’t want you to have it anyway, but there’s a nice view from the top.”

Billy thinks that he’s gonna have the best view for the whole way round, so he nods. “Let’s do it Harrington, you gonna squeal if I make the cart swing?” 

“No, but I might push you out of it,” Steve rolls his eyes, but his smile is growing, “can’t you just be _nice?”_

Billy smiles back, “honestly Stevie, I haven’t ever really tried.”

Steve pays the fare, waving off Billy’s attempts again and pulling them both into the next cart. It’s rockier than Billy expected once they start moving, and he hadn’t quite realised just how high they were going to be. They’re nowhere near the top, and he’s already getting a lurching feeling whenever he looks over the edge. A gust of wind sends the cart rocking, and Billy feels a rush of nausea. He puts the edge of his lollipop into his mouth. Runs his tongue over it again and again. Quick little licks which help calm him down, help soothe his stomach.

Steve notices his unease and shuffles a little closer.

“I think that’s my house over there,” he points in pretty much the opposite direction to Loch Nora and Billy gently pushes his hand until he’s aiming the right way. “Oh wait, yeah,” Steve laughs, “that looks more like it. Yeah! Look, there it is!” Steve shifts forward in his excitement, and the whole cart lurches. Billy tips forward, his teeth clacking against the lollipop and breaking off a large chunk which flies down his throat, causing him to choke. Tears fill his eyes as Billy gasps; he can feel where the jagged piece of candy is stuck, too sharp for him to swallow. He reaches out, grasping at Steve and trying in vain to cough, but the piece isn’t budging.

“Shit!” Steve whacks Billy on the back, firm slaps straight in between his shoulder blades. It hurts, the heel of Steve’s palm catching right on one of his still healing wounds, but it works, and the piece of candy flies straight out of Billy’s mouth, spiralling down to the ground and probably landing on some poor unfortunate kid’s head. Billy leans back in the cart, wheezing, and Steve’s hands are on his back again, gentler this time, more of a soothing rub. He lets out a string of frantic apologies.

“Shit, Billy, I’m so sorry. I didn’t...I just got excited. I... _fuck_ I’m sorry. I promised Owens I’d look after you and now... I’m really sorry. Are you OK? Can you breathe? Can you- Do you wanna get off? Maybe if we-”

Billy puts a hand on Steve’s arm, stops the babble.

“I’m ok,” he croaks out, “I’m fine.”

Steve still looks a little guilty, he’s ducking his head and pulling at his hair- the way that Billy _knows_ means he’s feeling bad- and so Billy grabs hold of his hand, gently easing it away from those unruly brown waves.

“Steve,” Billy waits until Steve’s looking at him, waits until he has those honey eyes latched onto him. “I. Am. Fine.” He watches Steve’s eyes, waits until the remorse in them has cleared, “I shouldn’t’ve been so focused on my cock anyway,” Billy grins, his heart lifting as Steve’s smile reappears.

“Well, I’m glad you’re OK. Would be pretty bad of me to let you choke to death on our first date.”

And he’s joking. Billy’s pretty sure he’s joking. It’s the exact kind of joke that they’d both make. But it still makes Billy’s heart soar to hear those words while he’s still holding on to Steve’s hand. Makes his gut twist to remember that Steve doesn’t mean it. Makes his throat burn when he realises that Steve probably never will. 

“Well I’ve already had some cock in my mouth, so it can’t be that bad.” Billy tries for lighthearted. Misses it by miles. Hopes that Steve attributes the roughness in his voice to the coughing.

Steve’s silent for a few moments, stays staring into Billy’s eyes. 

“Do you _want_ this to be a date?” he asks, his voice quiet, more serious than Billy’s ever heard it.

Billy doesn’t know how to answer. He squeezes Steve’s hand a little.

“Do you?” 

Steve keeps his eyes fixed on Billy’s and nods. Once. But it’s enough. 

Billy leans forward a little, just enough to close the distance between them. He presses his lips to Steve’s, tastes the sticky, strawberry candy.   
  


He thinks it tastes a whole lot better like this.

  
  



End file.
